Association between location of fall and mortality in hospitalized elderly patients for falls

Objectives: This study aimed to determine the effect of fall location on mortality among patients aged 65 years or older who were hospitalized due to a fall. Methods: This cross-sectional study analyzes in-depth survey data of discharged patients from the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 2015 to 2020. The subjects of this study were 27,437 elderly patients aged 65 years or older who were hospitalized with the principal diagnosis code S-T due to a fall. Descriptive, chi-square and multiple logistic regression analyses were conducted to determine the relationship between the location of falls and death. Results: The odds ratio of falls in elderly patients hospitalized due to falls according to the location of falls was 4.9 times that of falls in group living facilities compared to falls that occurred on roads. It was significantly higher in men and the older age group of over 80 years. Conclusion: As a result of analyzing the relationship between the location of falls and death of the elderly, the incidence of death due to falls was high among elderly living in nursing homes and group living facilities and hospitalized. Therefore, more efforts are needed to identify these high-risk groups from various angles, detect them early, and prevent them intensively.